Games by the Numbers (2016 Q1): New mobile gaming report reveals current trends

Unity Analytics released the second edition of the “Games by the Numbers” report, which employs data to reveal game install trends across different platforms, devices and regions.

Key highlights from this report:

Strong first quarter: Mobile gaming rang in the new year with a 30% increase in Q1 2016 compared with Q4 2015. One country in particular, China, represented 31% of the total installs of games made with Unity.

Android still ahead: Android retained its status as the global leader in Q1 2016 representing 81% of mobile game installs while iOS maintained 17%.

Leading Android platforms: Kitkat (4.4) and Lollipop (5.0 and 5.1) account for 73% of all Android game installs.

iOS shows more consolidation: 72% of installs are on devices running iOS 9.0 (released September 2015) or later, and 90% on devices running 8.0 (released at September 2014) or later.

Since the beginning of 2016, we saw a significant increase in mobile game installs. China was a powerhouse in the first quarter eclipsing the US in number of game installs. However, the popularity of Android and iOS devices showed significant variations by region. Among the top 10 countries in terms of total game installs, Brazil and the Republic of Korea are the countries with the highest percentage of game installs on Android, while Japan has the highest share of iOS installs.

Android continues to lead global game installs, but iOS users upgrade to the latest version more rapidly. While most iOS users are on version 9.0 (released September 2015), the most popular Android versions are still Kitkat (4.4) and Lollipop (5.0 and 5.1).

Beyond the platforms, what does the device landscape look like? Samsung holds an overwhelming lead globally. However, China is an exception with strong local brands, led by Xiaomi. Apple customers prefer their games on iPhones compared to iPads. Even more interesting, though, is the fact that people appear to be holding on to older versions of their iPads — the opposite trend of iPhones.

In Q1 2016, around 220,000 Unity-made games generated 4.2 billion installs across 1.7B unique devices globally. That’s a hefty amount of data, and now we’re making the insights and trends that it reveals available to you. Enjoy!

This is narrow look at gaming. Both IOS (Apple) and Android (Google) trail Microsoft as gaming companies. Probably a surprise (or not) that Microsoft is the #2 gaming company in the world based on revenue.

Thanks for providing these Interesting insights. Games and social media are the two major reasons that people spending more time on their devices. Game developers can have a clear picture on the popular platform

So now you delete comments of paying customers who voice concern and feel uncomfortable with the way you are taking things now? I didn’t write to troll or use bad language, just honest concern. Why did you delete my comment instead of adressing it straight on?

Thanks for your comments. We would like to better understand our customers who are interested in our Analytics offerings so as to better address their needs. Please feel free to reach us at: analytics@unity3d.com if any questions or concerns. :)